“Going in one more round when you don’t think you can – that’s what makes all the difference in your life.”
I and my mom share a lot of interests and hobbies, which
makes life interesting for us. We enjoyed competing with each other in video
games like Mortal Combat, Most Wanted or Test Drive. There are certain games I win
hands down and some Mom does, but often we do have good competition between us
as well. The same goes with our love for beach, organizing game parties,
watching TV serials and many other activities we enjoy together.
Mom used to download some movies she had enjoyed before I was
born so that she could share the experience once again with me. We loved watching
some movies, but few were so bad that mom wondered how she had enjoyed watching
them so much in the first place.
We loved Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Rambo, Rush
Hour, ET, and many other movies. When mom told me about Rocky, I was hesitant
to watch the movie because I am no great fan of boxing or any other violent
sports. I don’t understand what is entertaining about people hitting people.
Mom has her way of convincing me and she did. We watched Rocky not just once
but few times over and over again, because the movie won over Maa once again
like it did before, and I too fell for its charm.
There was more to the movie
than just boxing. It worked like an inspiration for me, where determination
gets you what you want. I feel the fight where Rocky is not declared winner in
the end, makes it so close to your heart. The movie itself, made by a
struggling Sylvester Stallone was motivational enough.
After watching the movie for the 4th time, I told
Maa that I wanted to run the steps of Philadelphia Art Museum someday, like
Rocky did. She said OK, as though we were going to do it in few years. How was
it possible for a teen boy from a tiny village of Byndoor to run up the steps
of an art museum half way across the globe? We come from middle class Indian
family, where travelling abroad is not a luxury we cannot afford. So far I hadn't
stepped outside my home state as well. That is when Maa asked, “So you actually
did not learn that anything is possible with determination, did you?”
True to her words, in 2 years I had my chance of running up
the Rocky Steps. Standing atop the steps, I felt motivation and optimism
surging through my heart.
It was kind of an impossible dream that came true so
quickly. Moreover, nothing was planned. It all happened by chance. My mom
wanted to visit her friends in USA who were cancer survivors like her. They had
a support group and most of them got together for meets quite often. Being in
India, Maa could not attend their get together. So in 2008, she decided to
visit USA and meet as many of them as possible. We spent 4 months with Mr. Jay
and Mrs. Paula in Florida which was an amazing period in our lives.
By luck, one of mom’s friends Miss Judy lived just opposite
of Philadelphia art museum and she invited us to spend few days with her. This is
how I could run up the Rocky steps. We also celebrated 4th of July
with the Americans, watching the fireworks from the best view we could have. Me
and Maa stood below the statue of Rocky #together and wondered, how this did
happen in real. Sometimes, things go wrong but often things go right for us as
well. Life shows us many moments to be optimists and motivated, but we tend to
sideline them and concentrate on things that go wrong. That is the reason why
we feel that many things go wrong. We only have to learn to look at the
positive side of our lives where miracles happen every day.
Some Pictures from Philadelphia
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